


Empathy at Midnight

by SecondStarfall (beantiger)



Series: The Second Starfall Stories [13]
Category: Original Work
Genre: Dragons, F/M, Fairy Tale Elements, Fairy Tale Style, Fantasy, Finding Out You're Gay For A Dragon, Insomnia, Kings & Queens, M/M, Medieval, Names, Originally Posted Elsewhere, Other, Polyamorous Character, Polyamory, Pregnancy, Royalty, Shapeshifting, Sharing a Bed, Trans Character, Trans Male Character
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-12
Updated: 2020-01-12
Packaged: 2021-02-27 14:48:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 541
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22218832
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/beantiger/pseuds/SecondStarfall
Summary: "May I ask you something personal—a matter of the soul?"***A sleepless royal polycule—one dragon, one tulip-farmer, and one queen—discuss the future.
Relationships: Original Character/Original Character/Original Character
Series: The Second Starfall Stories [13]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1582975
Kudos: 15





	Empathy at Midnight

**Author's Note:**

> This is a version of the original Twitterfic, same title, posted over at my now-deactivated personal account in December 2019. It has been given minor edits for consistency with other stories and readability on AO3. ❤️ 
> 
> **SUGGESTED RE-READING:** The queen married these two in ["Dragon, Dragonfly."](https://archiveofourown.org/works/22056346)
> 
> ✨ [[see the full SecStar timeline](https://secondstarfall.com/index.php/Official_Timeline) | [check out the SecStar wiki](https://secondstarfall.com/)] ✨

"May I ask you something personal—a matter of the soul?" asked Queen Alexandrine, who could not sleep for the unborn child kicking within.

Her husband, the tulip-farmer, flipped over on the blankets; her other husband, the dragon, curled tighter around them on the bed. He tucked his golden tail underneath Alexandrine's neck.

"You would not have to answer—it is pure curiosity on my part," the queen added. 

"Not much I wouldn't tell you," said the tulip-farmer.

"Well—your name, after you turned over—did you choose it?"

"I went to my mother, as I was maybe five at the time. She gave me this name, which I share with my uncle the knight, who she loved more than anyone." 

"Sir Galien the Redwood? Truly? That's the only Galien that comes to mind, the only one that my father ever knighted."

"Yes. The same."

"And you never told me!"

"It never came up—and it's not as if the title or honor passed on to my mother or myself. We grew tulips." 

The dragon's voice rumbled forth: "An honor far worthier than knighthood, if you ask me."

"I would not ask you," said Galien the tulip-farmer. "But it is nonetheless appreciated, I think."

Light smoke billowed up from the dragon's nostrils. 

"I am with child, you two," said the queen, waving away the smoke. "Please."

"The farm..." said Galien. "The scent of the soil, the sky's whiteness. The perfection in those little petals. You feel so small and so large all at once, holding a bulb in your hand." 

"We could have your mother move here, if you desire it, and she," the queen replied.

"It isn't about my mother, although I miss her. It's the land. The tulips I grow here are not quite the same. Not even with the botanist's aid."

"How's that?"

"One bit me once."

"Ah. Understandable." 

Queen Alexandrine shifted, holding the curve of her belly and wincing, and the dragon opened one jade eye to watch her. Quiet fell upon the three there in the sleepless dark.

Then:

"I am about to make an offer," the dragon grumbled, "I will not make again." 

Said the tulip-farmer, "Oh? Have you gone mad?"

"I believe so, Galien Tarrou. I could bring you to your mother, or she here, as needed. An hour it would take, I think, for a dragon of my speed. You ought to see your land, and she her grandchild—to give it a name." 

"To give it a name," Galien intoned.

"I would like that," said the queen.

"You have five more seconds to accept or decline," the dragon groaned.

"Oh—damn you. I accept."

"Impending fatherhood has turned my brains to tar, truly," said the dragon. 

He lay his great head over the tulip-farmer's lap, nuzzling in. The bed squealed with their combined weight.

"I still dislike you," added the dragon. "As has been established, I hope."

Teased the queen, "I don't know—all of that sounded close to empathy."

The dragon said, "May our child inherit none of it."

 _May our child try its best to love,_ thought Galien, _as much as you do._

He placed one hand on the dragon's skull, as did the queen, and sleep swiftly approached them.

**Author's Note:**

> Leave a comment or a kudos or whatever the heck if this tickled your fancy. There shall be more! ❤️ Also, please let me know what other characters, relationships, or places you'd like to hear about. I have lots of ideas, but I'd enjoy writing a few stories for y'all as well.
> 
> ✨ [[see the full SecStar timeline](https://secondstarfall.com/index.php/Official_Timeline) | [check out the SecStar wiki](https://secondstarfall.com/)] ✨
> 
>  **AUTHOR'S COMMENTARY:** Our tulip-farmer gets a name, and if you're a stickler for details, you may have noticed that he's Marlesse's cousin. One of these days Galien's mom is going to show up at the castle and point this out. I don't think Galien and Mar ever notice, as they don't look alike.
> 
> For a while I wasn't sure if Galien and Amaderu (the dragon) loved each other as they loved Alexandrine. Turns out, they hella do. Husbands!


End file.
